'Enterprise': It's All About Data

The core of enterprise IT is the integration of your company's data sources. In this second article on transitioning your company to an enterprise IT architecture, CIO Update guest columnist Scott Robinson examines the key concepts of database re-engineering and functional integration.

You've certainly heard of (and you probably have one) the executive information system (EIS). The refined pinnacle of decision support, the EIS is the answer to senior management's most fervent prayers: an information source that offers up the most critical decision support data at the moments when it's needed most.

A typical EIS satisfies the two primary requirements of the senior executive: it delivers only the specific information that the executive needs in order to get the job done; and, the executive can call it up at a moment's notice.